Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 302 - Prisons; state, county and municipal.
302.31 - Use of jails.

302.31 Use of jails. The county jail may be used for any of the following purposes:
(1) The detention of persons charged with crime and committed for trial.
(1m) The detention of persons subject to confinement under s. 322.011.
(2) The detention of persons committed to secure their attendance as witnesses.
(3) To imprison persons committed pursuant to a sentence or held in custody by the sheriff for any cause authorized by law.
(4) The detention of persons sentenced to imprisonment in state penal institutions or a county house of correction, until they are removed to those institutions.
(5) The detention of persons participating in the intensive sanctions program.
(6) The temporary detention of persons in the custody of the department.
(7) The temporary placement of persons in the custody of the department, other than persons under 17 years of age, and persons who have attained the age of 17 years but have not attained the age of 25 years who are under the supervision of the department under s. 938.355 (4) and who have been taken into custody pending revocation of community supervision or aftercare supervision under s. 938.357 (5) (e).
(8) Under an agreement under s. 66.0303, the detention of persons detained or imprisoned before, during, or after trial by a county that borders on this state and is located in the state of Michigan. The agreement under s. 66.0303 for the detention of persons from another state shall take into account the provisions of this chapter regarding the detention of persons in county jails.
(8m) Under an agreement under s. 66.0303, the detention of persons detained or imprisoned before, during, or after trial by a county that borders on this state. An agreement under this subsection may not provide for the detention of a person detained or imprisoned in a county jail by a county that borders on this state who has been sentenced to imprisonment in a state prison in that state. The agreement under s. 66.0303 for the detention of persons from another state shall take into account the provisions of this chapter regarding the detention of persons in county jails.
(9) Other detentions authorized by law.
History: 1981 c. 20; 1989 a. 31 s. 1646; Stats. 1989 s. 302.31; 1989 a. 336; 1991 a. 39; 1993 a. 16, 89, 385, 490; 1995 a. 27, 77; 2003 a. 81, 226, 326; 2007 a. 200; 2013 a. 334; 2015 a. 55.
The Department of Corrections has discretion to keep its detainees in a county jail, but sheriffs in their capacity as custodians of the jails have authority to refuse to keep department detainees if doing so will endanger jail safety. DOC v. Kliesmet, 211 Wis. 2d 254, 564 N.W.2d 742 (1997), 96-2292.
Out-of-state prisoners may be housed by the state, a county, or a municipality only as authorized by statute, which is currently limited to the Interstate Corrections Compact, s. 302.25. OAG 2-99.

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